L'Osservatore Romano, the official Vatican newspaper, published a piece in its January 16-17, 2006, edition by Fiorenzo Facchini, a professor of evolutionary biology at the University of Bologna, which praised the decision in Kitzmiller v. Dover and described "intelligent design" as unscientific. The New York Times (January 18, 2006) noted, "The article was not presented as an official church position.

The lawsuit in Hurst et al. v. Newman et al. -- in which eleven parents challenged the constitutionality of a four-week intersession course on "The Philosophy of Design" (formerly "The Philosophy of Intelligent Design") at Frazier Mountain High School in Lebec, California -- was settled on January 17, 2006.